Bluma was beginning to panic. The Sisters of the Lileen were all that stood between her and the mob of hungry demons outside the crypt door.

“The sooner we are rid of her,” said one of the cats, “the sooner we return to our business. Can we not simply leave her?”

“We can,” said another. “But ought we to? A living girl…”

“No,” said Lilith, “I do not think it wise to leave her for the taking. She is pursued by Something Powerful.”

Bluma swallowed hard. It was true.

“What option, then, is left?”

“Nothing. Nothing is left.”

What could she do?

Lilith sighed. “Perhaps it is best to drain her after all.”

This did not, to say the least, seem like a good option to Bluma.

And at just this moment, she remembered:

The spoon.

The hungry spoon.

All of a sudden, she knew what to do.

“I know!” said Bluma.

Slowly, the eyes of the Lileen turned upon her.

“What?” said Lilith.

“I say we drain her,” snapped a thin, ragged cat.

But Lilith was intrigued; Bluma’s hand was in her apron pocket.

“Yes?” said Lilith.

Bluma drew out the spoon.

“Tell me,” said Lilith. “What do you see?”

By now, Bluma knew what to expect. After a moment, her face swam into view, and then the Dark Lady rose behind her, seeping up from among the fallen crypt stones, all thirsty lips and grasping fingers.

But Bluma brought the spoon closer, until all she could see was her own face.

Her face.

She was nervous now, and her eyes darted up to Lilith. “Is there any trick to it?”

“Only confidence,” said Lilith.

And so, with confidence, Bluma took hold of the spoon’s cold handle and, as she had seen Lilith do, turned it all the way around the image of her face that lay in its basin.

And what she saw when the spoon had completed its revolution shocked her.

It was a girl.

Just a girl. No one she knew. And as her eyes slipped away from the reflection in the basin of the spoon, the details of the girl’s face slipped from her mind.

An odd grin had begun to crease Lilith’s face. “Good,” she said. “Very good.”

“Her lip,” said one of the Lileen. “Her lip isn’t bleeding anymore.”

With her free hand, Bluma lifted her fingers to her mouth. Sure enough, her lips were smooth and cool.

But something warm dripped onto her finger, and with a shock, Bluma let the spoon fall into the dirty snow underfoot.

A trickle of warm blood.

Swiftly, Lilith bent and retrieved the spoon. Before Bluma knew it, it was in the pocket of Lilith’s shift.

“Sisters,” she said. “Keep to the plan.”

And with that, Lilith backed through the door of the crypt and, smiling, blew away on the wind.

—

Instantly, Bluma was through the crypt door.